A 'bitter old hag' and 'an angry black man'  have something in common.... (and now California gay and lesbian couples too)

its called  "post-traumatic embitterment disorder."

(Don't get mad yet I promise I have a point...)

Apparently this disorder was named by Dr. Michael Linden who is a German psychiatrist. He presented this information to the "enthusiastic" crowd at the American Psychiatry Association meeting last week. (The only image that comes to mind of that group is a room full of Freuds with cigars, beards, big egos and prescription note pads...no women mind you, or minorities... though I bet I am totally wrong about that one...heh.)

 I just stumbled upon this info in an LA Times article published on Monday-

Bitterness a mental illness?

This is what Linden has to say- (paraphrased by the LA Times I assume)

 "Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at something important, such as a job, relationship or activity, Linden says. When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the promotion, their spouse files for divorce or they fail to make the Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them. Instead of dealing with the loss with the help of family and friends, they cannot let go of the feeling of being victimized. Almost immediately after the traumatic event, they become angry, pessimistic, aggressive, hopeless haters."

 Wow.  Those are damning words if I've ever heard them. (But ya know, at least they aren't "bad people who have had bad things happen to them" heh...)

Here is my immediate issue with this diagnosis...

Every student in a Counseling Psych 101 class (or Education, or any other degree where you are learning to work with people and not robots) gets educated about multi-cultural issues ie. "how to not be a total racist jerk." Anyone who has taken one of those classes could spot that there seems to be  a BIG HOLE in the information on this disorder-

Uhm, Hello? What about populations of people who have been marginalized??

How about the people who just found out about the court ruling on Prop 8? Do they now get a special sort of diagnosis because they have been denied the right to marry again?

(thanks to Mercury News for  this photo)

 Isn't it normal for any person who has repeatedly experienced rejection, discrimination, racism, had their civil rights violated, been made fun of... etc. etc. to be bitter as hell???  Could it even be someone's right to be disillusioned after a great loss? Could becoming bitter even be  a prudent and healthy choice for self-protection?

Did the big bad psychiatry machine decide that those people were annoying so now they deserve a new socially constructed category??  I'm enraged...really. O0ppsy! I better be careful I might become bitter and then I'll have to live with the stigma of a special kind of mental disorder just for me! hehe...

Alright, so clearly I have issues with the basic idea of a "mental disorder" anyway.   Some of our greatest scientist, inventors, artists, actors and world leaders had a diagnosable mental disorder and perhaps they wouldn't have contributed near as much to society if they were "normal" and mentally "healthy. " Also if you pick up any book on psychopathology (mental disorders and their study) you'll learn that we have no idea what we are talking about and no real way to determine where mental illness begins and sanity ends. There's a gray area...

I propose this gray area is in our our gray matter. Why can't we be what we are? (Ooh, how Zen and hippie of me!) Why do we put people in categorical boxes like they are a commodity to be bought and sold?

"Hmm... I think today I will buy some white 8% Irish female with a side of post-traumatic bitterness disorder...aaand a little anxiety on top- just to make me feel manly." Lame. 

I fear for what "they" will come up with next.

Here are some extra fun links I found on "PTED"-

A journal abstract from Dr. Linden himself

 A review of Dr. Linden's book, where some of the critical issues with research are noted

Moaning workers 'are ill'  from the BBC

An Interview with the good Dr. Linden from the Portland Independent Media Center

(*Disclaimer: If somehow my late night research on PTED was not thorough enough and I missed some kind of information on multi-cultural issues, well I promise not to be bitter, just pass the info along and we'll discuss! Thanks- The Madly Running & possibly Bitter Blogger)